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Utah woman who overcame substance abuse pardoned by President Biden

"I can’t believe this is happening," said Stevoni Doyle, reflecting on the moment she received a phone call saying she was being pardoned by the president.
Stevoni Doyle of Utah
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One of the 39 people pardoned by President Joe Biden’s administration is a Utah woman who has turned her life around after struggling with substance abuse.

Stevoni Doyle of Santaquin is a wife, mother and grandmother who also fosters animals and volunteers.

"I'm a therapist with Wasatch Behavioral Health, with the jail transition program,” said Doyle.

"If you would have asked me 20 years ago if I would be here today, I never would have imagined that,” said Doyle.

She has come a long way.

"In 2000, I was introduced to meth, and I instantly become addicted,” explained Doyle. “It was the one thing that I felt like just completed me. Within a year, I lost custody of my 4 kids to DCFS and I had racked up a bunch of charges."

Doyle served time at the Utah State Prison and then at a federal prison in Arizona. There, she decided to make some changes.

"I started to take accountability for my actions and realized that I didn’t want to live this lifestyle," she said.

RELATED STORY | Biden commutes 1,500 sentences in largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history

Doyle started helping people who were struggling with substance abuse and even went back to school to study social work.

"I never thought I would graduate college, let alone get a master’s degree,” Doyle said.

On Wednesday, she got a special phone call and was pardoned by President Biden.

"I was like, no way, I can’t believe this is happening.” She said. "I won’t have to explain myself all the time. Even though I don’t have a problem sharing it, it’s part of my story, it’s part of who I am, it’s still nice to not have to do that."

RELATED STORY | January 6 defendant tells Scripps News he may not accept a potential pardon from Trump

This story was originally published by Mythili Gubbi at Scripps News Salt Lake City.